BOSTON (February 4, 2013) – The Massachusetts Department of Transportation Registry of Motor Vehicles Division has transitioned to a new website making it the first motor vehicle administration in the nation poised to accept advertising in order to generate new revenue.

With more than 16 million website visits per year, the DOT COM switch offers limited advertising opportunities, and allows the RMV to develop clearer navigation to let customers perform their transactions with renewed confidence.

“This is a great example of MassDOT’s continued emphasis on making our services more user-friendly,” said MassDOT Secretary and CEO Richard A. Davey. “MassRMV.com makes online transactions simpler for the customer and gives us additional revenue opportunities.”

During 2012, Registry customers performed more than 3.4 million transactions online, up from 2.9 million transactions in 2011, ranging from license and registration renewals to citation payments to signing up to become organ donors. Advertisements will be limited to select informational pages and are not on customer transaction pages.

“MassRMV.com is now the official website of the Registry of Motor Vehicles where customers may perform 35 different transactions safely and securely,” said Registrar of Motor Vehicles Rachel Kaprielian. “We work hard to drive customer traffic to the web, so we recognize our obligation to make this mode of service delivery as convenient as possible.”

In September, MassDOT conducted usability testing on the new website design with customers at its Chinatown Branch. Based on customer reviews, navigation bars were redesigned, terminology was changed and special alerts affecting branch operations have been pushed to the forefront at MassRMV.com.

MassRMV.com customers will initially see promotional ads for MassDOT and RMV services while a contract with the advertising vendor, Municipal Media Solutions is finalized. In its first year of operation, the advertisements are expected to generate about $65,000 in new revenue.

Online advertising supplements current advertising partnerships, including those used in RMV mailers to defray mailing and productions costs. A closed-circuit RMV TV network, MVN, targets ads to those likely to be conducting business in Registry Branches and offers PSA time for relevant RMV news and updates.

BE SMART ONLINE, WATCH FOR DECEPTIVE, MIMIC RMV WEBSITES

With the growing number of transactions taking place online, MassDOT would like to remind customers of the existence of deceptive websites that have been created to mislead customers into thinking they have reached the official RMV website. These mimic sites are typically reached by customers using online search engines.

Registry customers should be extra vigilant and avoid any sites seeking to charge fees to receive basic information or forms, as well as websites offering to conduct business online for you.

It is also smart to avoid any site that uses or references the ‘Department of Motor Vehicles’ or the ‘DMV’. The word ‘Department’ and the ‘DMV’ abbreviation are NOT used in Massachusetts.

Registry of Motor Vehicles fees charged through MassRMV.com are only assessed for transactions that result in official credentials, records or reports or when the customer requests a road test appointment.